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160 infected with stomach flu on Silja Symphony cruise ship: report

Xinhua, June 3, 2016 Adjust font size:

Around 160 passengers and crew members on the cruise ship Silja Symphony have been infected with a stomach flu over the past week, reported Finnish media on Friday.

The gastroenteritis epidemic started last Sunday on the vessel sailing between Helsinki and Stockholm and operated by the Estonia-based firm Tallink Silja.

On Thursday, the Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) confirmed the virus causing the epidemic was the norovirus.

Despite scrubbing down the ship's surfaces with disinfectants, the disease continued to spread, Marika Nojd, director of communications at Tallink Silja, told Finnish national broadcaster Yle.

Nojd said on Friday that 10 new cases had been detected. The number had been 150 on Thursday.

Even though passengers have been informed norovirus is still present on the ship, Silja Symphony is expected to depart on Friday afternoon from Helsinki to Stockholm as scheduled, according to Nojd.

Finnish daily Iltasanomat reported that about 300 people, accounting for more than a quarter of Silja Symphony's passengers, cancelled their trips on Friday.

At least 1,000 Finnish runners are scheduled to board the ship in Helsinki on Friday to travel to the Stockholm Marathon, said the daily.

Paula Vetikko, CEO of Vetikko Travel which organized trips to Stockholm for the Finnish runners, told Finnish daily Helsingin Sanomat she believed there would be more cancellations.

Norovirus is the most common cause of viral gastroenteritis in humans. The virus affects around 267 million people and causes over 200,000 deaths each year around the world, usually in less developed countries. Endit